Abstract
The starting point of this paper is to the development of a relatively panoramic account of English and multilingualism in Thailand, illuminating the relationships among powers (trends), individuals and groups and their multilingual practices. Most previous studies draw upon arguments from the traditional monocentric model of nation-state multilingualism. Surprisingly, little is known about the polycentric forces influencing multilingual distributions. Methodologically, large-scale data sets are gathered through literature, documents, questionnaires, interviews and observing actual language behaviors. The ethnographic data gathered are analyzed through content analysis conventions. Challenging Smalley’s nationalist model, the central thesis of this paper is to present an alternative path, a polycentric model, to better understand Thailand’s multilingualism. There is a lack of adequate evidence within and across Thailand to show the existence of a universal and coherent hierarchy connecting different layers of language users. As such, this paper argues that Smalley’s universal hierarchy/dominance model has to compete with alternative models termed a ‘multiarchy’ or ‘multiarchies’ (a portmanteau of “multiple hierarchies”) where parallel language hierarchies co-exist with the orthodox one. Keywords: globalization; English; language use; multilingualism; Thailand
Highlights
Recent research in applied linguistics and sociolinguistics has fallen short in addressing the diversity of contemporary linguistic repertories in Thailand
By extending Kosonen’s (2008) polycentric model of three trends against Smalley’s (1994) monocentric model of nationalist sociolinguistics, this paper proposes an expanded model, which recognizes the forces influencing language use
The study pursues answers to the following questions: 1) What are the characteristics of multilingualism in Thailand? 2) What are multilingual language choices and language preferences in Thailand? 3) How is the multiplicity of conjoined forces shaping Thailand in relation to emerging multilingualism?
Summary
Recent research in applied linguistics and sociolinguistics has fallen short in addressing the diversity of contemporary linguistic repertories in Thailand. There are only a handful of researchers (including Smalley 1988, 1994, Huebner 2006, Premsrirat 2007, Kosonen 2008, Lee 2015) working on multilingualism in Thailand. Far the only book-length treatment to examine Thailand’s linguistic diversity and multilingualism is Smalley (1994). In Smalley’s (1988, 1994) hierarchy/dominance model, there has been a strong power dynamics controlled by the ruling class in Thailand. Thailand’s diverse languages and dialects have become subordinate to the national official language, known as standard Thai, spoken by the higher levels of the social elite (some vernaculars have a diglossic relationship with Standard Thai)
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